Mustapa: Malaysia remains open on TPP

Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed says Malaysia is still keeping its options open on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. — Picture by Choo Choy MayKUALA LUMPUR, March 23 ― Malaysia is still keeping its options open on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as 10 of its signatories met in Chile last week, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

“It is still an open question, there was a meeting held in Chile last week and another one coming up in May in Vietnam.

“We will continue to exchange views because the main motivation is to get access to the American market,” he told reporters at the Global Transformation Forum 2017 here today.

He was commenting on whether Malaysia was still keen to pursue the agreement after US President Donald Trump formally pulled the US out of massive 12-nation trade deal that covers 40 per cent of world's economy.

In November last year, Mustapa had said that should the TPP fail to materialise, Malaysia would explore other options, including negotiating bilateral Free-Trade Agreements with other countries.

Malaysia will also be focusing on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which involves 10 Asean countries and six major trading partners in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, he said. ― Bernama

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